by Jennae Vale
Christmas in Delight
Delight Book Four
Jennae Vale
Chapter 1
The old Willys Wagon Jeep glided to a stop along the edge of the road. Amy dropped her head to the steering wheel. “Damn!” She lifted her head wearing a crooked grin. “Can you believe it? But no worries. I’ve got this.” Amy could feel Avery’s disapproval wafting her way.
Avery silently pulled out her cell phone and held it up in front of her, to the side and finally rolled down the window and extended it out into the icy December air. “No service,” she reported.
“Of course there’s not,” Amy said. “But all isn’t lost.”
“This isn’t good.” Avery rolled the window back up, shivering from her brief exposure to the freezing temperature outside. “What are we going to do?” She eyed Amy, apparently expecting her to have an answer.
“I have absolutely no idea.” Amy gazed out the window at the heavily falling snow. “We’ll just have to hope someone drives by so we can flag them down.”
“I knew it wasn’t a good idea to go to Reno today. Especially in this old thing,” Avery said, sending what seemed an accusatory look in Amy’s direction.
“I’m sorry! I thought it would be fun, and how was I supposed to know this was going to happen?” She couldn’t help but feel defensive. Her friend had every right to look at her that way.
Avery rolled her eyes. “I not only lost every penny I brought with me, but now we’re stuck and if no one comes along we could freeze to death.” She pulled her cute but not very warm jacket more tightly around herself.
“Someone will come looking for us sooner or later.” Amy felt terrible. She had an appointment to bring the Jeep into Walt last week, but she’d canceled last minute because she was helping Crystal with her Christmastime wedding. Now she wished she’d kept that appointment.
“I hope so,” Avery grumbled.
“In the meantime, I’m going to look under the hood.” Amy opened the door and a gust of wind and snow took the opportunity to hit her in the face. She quickly turned the other way.
“Do you know anything about fixing cars?” Avery asked, sounding skeptical.
“Not really, but it can’t hurt to look.” Amy stepped out of the Jeep and was blasted with more cold air and freezing snow. She shivered. “I’ve got some blankets in the back.”
“Good,” Avery said, wrapping her arms around herself, “’cause this jacket is useless!”
Amy walked around the Jeep and opened the back. She pulled two blankets out from under some boxes. “Here,” Amy said, tossing a blanket to Avery over the back seat before closing everything up once again. She slid to the front of the car, almost losing her footing on the icy road. Closing the car door as she passed, she wrapped the other blanket around herself before unlatching the hood.
“I’m coming with you,” Avery said, stepping out to join her. “I don’t know any more about cars than you do, but maybe between the two of us we’ll figure it out.”
The two women stood in front of the car gazing at the engine. “Did you run out of gas?” Avery asked.
“No!” Amy was insulted and a little defensive. “At least I don’t think so,” she said. There was every possibility she had.
Avery leaned on the car, her head over the engine. She touched a hose and then another.
“What are you doing?” Amy asked.
“Just checking to see if anything is disconnected or something.” She continued poking and prodding.
While Avery looked over the engine, Amy leaned back against the Jeep and searched up and down the road. “We must be the only two people out today. I don’t see any cars at all.”
“This is really bad, Amy,” Avery said, still fiddling with hoses.
“Maybe one of us should try walking toward Delight.” Amy tipped her head in Avery’s direction.
“You’re kidding, right? Look at your shoes.” Avery stopped puttering with the hoses and eyeballed Amy’s feet.
Amy glanced down at her cute little black suede booties with the kitten heels. “Ugh!” She checked Avery’s feet. “Yours look a little better.”
“I’m not walking all the way back to Delight!” Avery sounded irritated and who could blame her. “We’ll just have to huddle together in the car and wait for someone to drive by.”
“I’m going to check the back to see if I’ve got anything else in there we can use.” Amy walked to the back of the Jeep one more time and opened the hatch. Boxes of clothing for the ski shop Amy owned were strewn across the floor, making it difficult to see anything. “If we get desperate, we can break into some of these boxes. I’ve got ski jackets, gloves, mittens. I hope I bought warm socks.” She continued moving boxes and reading content labels.
“Amy!” Avery’s voice called.
“What? I’m trying to find flares or something,” she said, nosing through a plastic container she’d just pulled out from under the boxes.
“Amy!” Avery was right beside her now.
“Ah, I found them! I can’t believe I actually had this roadside emergency kit here all along.” Opening it, she was relieved to see flares. They might need them later.
“Amy!” Avery elbowed her in the back.
“What?” Amy was losing her patience with Avery. It wasn’t her fault the car died on them. “What? I’m doing my best here.”
“Amy, look!”
Amy followed Avery’s pointing finger up the hillside on the other side of the two-lane road.
“I don’t see anything,” Amy said.
“Right there. See the big boulder with the crooked pine tree next to it.” Avery grabbed her chin and pointed her face in the direction she wanted her to look.
Amy squinted. Her eyesight wasn’t the best. She needed glasses, but had been resisting. Something was moving down the hillside. Two somethings, as a matter of fact. As they got closer, Amy couldn’t believe what she was seeing.
“Oh, my!” Avery said. Her voice was now a low purr.
“Is that what I think it is?” Amy asked.
“You mean who,” Avery said.
The two women watched in disbelief as two men on horseback descended the hillside. They were wrapped in plaids with a bit of bare leg visible.
“Are those kilts?” Avery asked.
“I don’t believe it,” Amy replied, squinting her eyes to get a better look. “They are.”
“Where are they coming from?” Avery asked. “More importantly, should we be worried?”
Amy tossed her blanket on the hood of the Jeep and propped herself against the driver’s side fender with her hand on her hip and one leg bent at the knee.
“Are you posing?” Avery asked. Her eyes narrowed as she gazed at Amy.
“No. Of course not.” Amy flipped her hair back out of her face.
“Good, because we’re all alone out here and we don’t know these guys.” Avery had seemed excited at first, but now was acting like she’d thought better of it.
By now the men were at the bottom of the hill and crossing the road in their direction.
“Wow!” was all Amy could say. “Our prayers have been answered, Avery.”
The two men stopped their horses beside Amy. Avery had moved to the passenger side of the Jeep and stayed there, seeming ready to run at a moment’s notice.
Amy opened her mouth to speak, but it appeared she’d lost the ability to form words as she glanced from one gorgeous man to the other. They were wet from the falling snow, but that didn’t take anything away from their rugged appearance. Both sat tall on their horses. Broad shoulders and trim waists along with longish hair that was probably blonde, but could have been brow
n, presented a sight that Amy recalled from an old whisky commercial she’d seen online.
The younger of the two shifted in his saddle, aiming his attention at Amy, a crooked grin appearing on his lips. “Good day to ye.”
“Where…where…” Amy was trying hard to get the words out, but she was mesmerized by this handsome man. She stared up into his face and realized she must sound like a complete dope.
“Where?” the older of the two asked, repeating what Amy had just said.
To Amy’s eyes, they looked like brothers. “Where did you come from?” she asked.
The younger one spoke again. He had a mischievous look in his eyes. “There,” he said, pointing to the hill they’d just descended.
“I know that. I saw you,” Amy replied.
“Do you live around here?” Avery asked from her spot on the passenger side of the Jeep.
The younger one looked to his companion who nodded. “Aye.”
“Where?” Avery was sounding suspicious.
“There.” He again pointed across the road.
Amy glanced Avery’s way with raised eyebrows. If she had her bearings right, the cave at the top of that hill was where the Grey Man had returned to his own time. Were these two time travelers? She thought about the Fletcher brothers who’d appeared in Delight after an avalanche somehow caused them to travel from long ago and far away Scotland. It wasn’t so far-fetched to think along those lines.
“Do ye need help?” the older man asked.
“My car broke down or ran out of gas or something and there’s no cell service so we’re stuck here.” Amy couldn’t stop staring at the younger man. This guy was definitely her type and she felt an undeniable attraction that was interfering with her ability to carry on a normal conversation. She had to shake herself to keep from babbling more. “So, yes. We do need help.”
“Where do ye wish to go? We’ll take ye.” Again, the young one spoke.
“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Avery said.
“Yes, they do,” Amy said, giving her a what-the-heck-is-wrong-with-you look and shaking her head.
“What are your names?” Amy asked.
“I be Gavin MacLure and this is me brother Conall.”
“I’m Amy Astin and this is my friend Avery Winters.” Amy indicated Avery who was still hiding on the other side of the Jeep.
Conall had his eye on Avery, who was obviously avoiding his gaze while sneaking an occasional peek in his direction. Amy could totally appreciate her friend’s interest, but Avery was a lot more cautious and reserved in her approach.
“Could you take us to our friend’s house? It’s up the road about ten miles.” Amy pointed in the general direction of The Writer’s Ranch.
“Aye. Come.” Gavin held out his hand for Amy to take.
“Let me get my purse.” She opened the car door and grabbed her things. “Come on, Avery.”
Avery was hesitant, but she did the same. Amy locked the Jeep and stood next to Gavin’s horse. “How do I get up there?”
He hopped down and easily lifted her onto the horse’s back. He then effortlessly leapt up behind her. Her heart was thumping wildly in her chest. The feel of his hands on her waist had her body tingling with anticipation.
“Your turn, Avery,” Amy said, beaming with delight as she nestled herself into Gavin’s arms.
Avery gave her a dirty look before heading to Conall’s horse. She looked up at him and Amy watched as her eyes softened and a smile flicked across her lips. She used the running board on the side of the car to give herself a leg up, positioning herself behind him and gently placing her hands on his waist.
The horses started off down the road at a fast walk. The two-lane roadway stretched out in front of them. The rhythmic clip-clop of the horses’ hooves on the asphalt pavement was the only sound as the snow created a hush that encapsulated them and the men who had rescued them.
“Thank goodness you came along,” Amy said. “We would have frozen to death out here.”
“We saw ye from the hillside and when ye did no’ continue on yer way, we decided…”
“To rescue us,” Amy finished for him. She was so close it made it difficult for her to see his face, but she had seen it and he was hot, hot, hot. He was tall, which she’d noted when he jumped down from his horse. He was strong. He’d lifted her like she weighed nothing at all. And he smelled good. Sitting here in his arms she breathed in the fresh scent of him and enjoyed the warmth his body was exuding. She hoped Avery was enjoying herself back there with Conall.
“Where are you from?” Amy asked, hoping for a real answer this time.
He didn’t respond right away. “We’re living in the cave at the top of the hill.”
“I knew it,” she said, feeling pleased with herself.
“Yer a smart one.” He chuckled.
“Care to tell me more,” she said.
“Nay,” was his response.
Avery still wasn’t quite comfortable with the whole idea of going with these two, but she wasn’t about to let Amy go alone. They looked bedraggled. Their hair was wet from the falling snow and it seemed like they could both use some warmer clothes, although they didn’t seem to be cold. In spite of all that, she had this strange feeling that she knew Conall. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was something about him that almost caused her to let down her guard. She’d stopped herself from leaving the protection of the Jeep to run to his side. As she thought about it now, whatever it was that drew her to him in that moment would have been so out of character for her. Still, she couldn’t seem to shake that feeling. She wondered, were they living on the hillside they’d ridden down? And if they were, why?
“Excuse me,” she said, her voice getting lost in the wind whipping around them.
“Did ye say something, lass?” His voice, when he spoke, sounded perfect to her ears. “Ye’ll need to speak up. I can no’ hear ye over the wind.”
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she yelled. “I was just wondering what you were doing up there…in the hills.” Carrying on a conversation this way wasn’t ideal.
“We’ve set up camp there,” he said. “’Tis as good a spot as any.”
Who camps at this time of year? It was December and it would only get colder and snowier as the days passed. Avery decided it was ridiculous to try to keep up a conversation. Besides, she knew Amy would be peppering Gavin with all sorts of questions.
Conall was a good-looking guy, despite the outdoorsy-to-the-extreme look he had going on. He had wavy blondish hair, sea green eyes and a bit of razor stubble growing on his strong jawline. She imagined he’d clean up nicely. Why she was imagining anything about him was beyond her. As soon as they got to Ross and Cassie’s place that would be the end of their very short acquaintance. Or should she say if they got to Ross and Cassie’s. So far so good, though. They hadn’t veered off the road into the woods, which had been her main concern. They were heading straight down the road, no detours.
“Brrr…” Avery was getting colder by the second.
He picked up the pace, taking the horse to a trot. As they came up beside Amy and Gavin, Conall nodded and Gavin matched his pace.
“’Tis too cold at the walk,” Conall said.
“How much longer ’til we get there?” Amy asked.
“Yer the one who knows where we’re going,” Gavin said.
“Oh, yeah, you’re right. It’s not too much farther up the road.”
“This trot is killing me,” Avery yelled. “Very bouncy.”
“Faster then,” Conall said, taking his horse to a smooth canter.
“Much better.” Avery had been afraid she’d fall off at the trot and had wrapped her arms around Conall’s waist, which she noted was trim, with well-muscled abs she could feel through his shirt.
Gavin and Amy were behind them now, but keeping up.
“There it is,” Avery said, removing one arm just long enough to point up ahead.
As they approached the ranc
h, the horses were slowed to a trot and then a walk. They made their way up the driveway. Ross came out of the barn and headed toward them.
“Not a good day to go for a ride.” Ross stood with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his face. It was more than obvious that he disapproved of their mode of transportation.
Avery jumped down from behind Conall. “Thank you,” she said, making her way to Ross. “Amy’s Jeep broke down and these two offered us a ride.”
Ross was sizing up the two strangers as he approached them. He reached up and, taking Amy by the waist, pulled her from the horse and placed her on the ground. “Cassie’s inside. Go.”
“Thank you for the ride. We appreciate it,” Amy said, beaming at Gavin. “Ross, should we invite them in?”
“Would ye like to rest yer horses?” Ross asked.
“Aye. ‘Twould be best,” Conall said.
“Come with me then.” Ross headed back to the barn with Gavin and Conall following him.
“So, who are these guys?” Cassie asked. Her dark hair was pulled into a messy bun behind her head, and as was usually the case, she was standing behind the kitchen island preparing food. She and Ross had recently renovated the old ranch that had been sitting on this property for decades and turned it into The Writer’s Ranch. It was a place where authors could come for peace, quiet and inspiration. It had been massively successful and had helped pull Delight out of the death spiral it had been in over the last several years.
“I don’t know, but if they hadn’t come along who knows when someone would have found us,” Amy said.
Avery shook her head. Just thinking about it was giving her chills. She listened as her two friends chatted away, just grateful to be seated in Cassie’s toasty kitchen.
“That’s why it’s always good to let someone know where you’re going and when you’re coming back,” Cassie scolded.
Avery happily warmed her hands around the mug she held, while Amy sipped the hot tea Cassie had poured for them. “They came down the hillside where that cave is,” Avery said. “You know, the one the Grey Man used to get back home.”